RCA in the commercial property press:

Skyline: Sales drop sharply across all segments

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports: Sales of offices, retail centers and multifamily properties in metro Atlanta fell in the first quarter, according to LoopNet, the online site that lists commercial properties for sale.

Working with research firm Real Capital Analytics, LoopNet reports that the value of retail-center transactions declined almost 86 percent compared with the first quarter of 2007. The total for this year was $221 million, compared with $1.56 billion last year.

The data do not include deals under $2.5 million.

The drop-off for office sales was 84.3 percent. This year's first-quarter number was $305 million; last year's number was $1.94 billion.

Sales of multifamily properties declined 45.6 percent for the quarter; the total fell from $717 million to $390 million.

The research also shows that foreign investors were big players, buying 47 percent of the offices, 28 percent of the multi-family properties and 26 percent of the retail centers.

The top lenders were Wachovia Bank for retail, Metropolitan Life Insurance for offices and Lehman Brothers for multifamily.